Maharashtra Mahabharat : New Trends in Indian Politics

The CSSP expresses its gratitude to Prof. Jitendra Narayan, Formerly Dean of Law and Social Sciences, LN Mithila University, Darbhanga, Bihar who very comprehensively discussed the ‘Maharashtra Imbroglio: Its Implications for National Politics’ in CSSP Talk-cum-Panel discussion that went for four long and grilling hours on 10 July 2023. He said that Maharashtra developments have national ramifications. His thesis was that the unfortunate developments point to an old malaise; the dominance of the elite on the democratic apparatus since independence. The parliamentary-cum-federal system was run like a ‘prime-ministerial cum- unitary system’ by Congress. Most state leaders were chiseled to become ‘bonsai- leaders’. When regional parties took over since 1967/1989 onwards, they too emulated the Congress legacy. They too became elitist within their own communities and promoted family members to leadership positions. But, the people were left out. After 2014, people accepted ‘rightist ideology’ due to its emphasis on politics of inclusion, development, and ideological homogenisation.

Prof Ramesh Madan, Ambala (Haryana), Prof Saroj Verma, Ambedkar University, Bihar, Dr Vikas Shukla, Asst Prof., Political Science, Uttarakhand, Prof Nalin Kumar, former Dean, Commerce Faculty, CSJM University, Kanpur, Prof Sanjay Kumar, Lucknow University and Coordinator, CSSP, Dr Sandhya Chaturvedi, Bangalore, Prof B C Chaudhury, Odissa, Prof Ganesh Prasad, Principal, Risia, Behraich made very valuable interventions and put grilling questions that made the discussions very lively.

In my closing remarks, I opined that the possibility of one-on-one contests in coming LS elections is minimal. Regional parties – the constituents of proposed ‘mahagathbandhan’ will not vacate space nor dump their aspirations for Congress -a national party. During the last 75 years , we have developed a rotten political culture in which we cannot expect healthy democratic institutions and processes to flourish. Hence, the present ruling dispensation at the Centre i.e. BJP is amalgamating Machiavelli, Kautilya, and the Constitution to achieve its long-term goal of establishing India of its dream in 2047. The LS Polls 2024 will showcase whether the people stand by that party in its endeavors!

Dr Sanjay Kumar, CSSP Coordinator conducted the programme and Dr Dharmendra Pratap Srivastava, Assistant Director (Academic) gave a vote of thanks. Mr Kamal Kumar Srivastava, Research Assistant, CSSP worked to make the programme a success.

The entire show is available on CSSP YouTube-